An Easy Poll-Axing

For one-quarter of the nation, the honeymoon (what there was of it) is now over. Sizing up Ronald Reagan's first two months in office, 24% disapproved of his performance, according to the latest Gallup poll. That is the biggest negative rating for a newly elected President in 28 years of polling comparable situations. (Dwight Eisenhower, the first newly elected President to have his popularity tested, had a disapproval rating of 8% shortly after taking office.) And Reagan's approval rating, 59%, was the lowest at this early stage of a newly elected Administration in the poll's history. The latest Harris survey, meanwhile, gives the President a 62% approval rating, 5% lower than Carter's was in March 1977.

The figures are hardly shocking: the fact that Reagan introduced such a controversial economic program so early caused people to choose sides quickly. Richard Wirthlin, the President's pollster, says that people are "polarizing" over the plan, with most lining up behind it. His own poll in early March shows that the President has the approval of roughly 65% of the country and the disapproval of only 20%. Do the results worry the White House? Says Press Secretary James Brady of the polltakers: "These are the same wonderful people who brought you the election that was too close to call."